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Originally Posted by wendybeth
So, how did it all turn out, Prudence? (And welcome home!)
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I described it more in the other thread.
Oh, but I didn't describe the sight-seeing.
Wednesday we went to some little brick oven pizza place in Brooklyn, where the waiter chided one of my coaches for getting a diet Pepsi with her pizza, and gave me a relieved "Thank You" for ordering a regular Coke. The pizza was good, but I didn't see it as the second coming as some of the rest did.
Thursday I basically practiced and did moot court stuff.
Friday we went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and damn if I didn't get all misty-eyed thinking of my great-grandparents going through Ellis Island. We printed out the record for my great-grandmother, who came here as a 26-year old spinster from Switzerland because clearly nothing was going to happen for her back home. The buildings on the island are absolutely beautiful. Apparently I'd never seen color photos, because surely I would have remembered how beautiful they are. I hope they finish restoration of some areas. The hospital buildings are still blocked off. They had some displays of artifacts immigrants had brought with them through Ellis Island that had been donated by later generations. There were individual items, and, in some cases, displays of numerous items from a single family. There were also reproductions of photos of the immigrants before their immigration, complete with notation as to who they were, where they were from, and where in this country they settled. There was so much to see there that we didn't have a chance to do it all.
The Statue was also pretty interesting. You can't go up inside the statue any more, but with some additional security screening (going through the metal detector and xray again, with addition of the air puffer thingy) you can climb to the top of the pedestal and go out on that balcony. (You can take an elevator, too, but we're purists and climbed the 156 steps ourselves.) Inside the top of the pedestal they have some glass windows up above so that you can look up and see elements of the construction. Again, I apparently learned nothing earlier in my life about the construction, so that was very interesting. In the lower levels of the pedestal they have exhibits about the construction of the statute. It was VERY windy Friday. It wasn't that cold, but the wind was as biting as I've ever felt.
Saturday, I we got eliminated in the morning, so we spent the rest of the day in Manhattan. First we went through the World Trade Center memorials and whatnot. It was simultaneously so overwhelming as to be inconceivable, and very, very individual, with names and photos and hopes and plans attached to each victim.
We also went into both Trinity Church and St. Paul's Chapel. St. Paul's also has fun things like George Washington's pew, and it's all pink and blue walls inside. It's also where the most surreal event of the trip took place: As we were looking at one of the exhibits of the mementos that were left all along the fence after 9/11, a little old man just started talking to me about how he was there then, and how amazing it was to see the whole fence just covered in items. And then he pointed out the picture of Giuliani and was explaining that he was mayor at the time (like I'd been living under a rock, but he was a sweet old guy so I went along with it.) And then he informed me that Giuliani was running for President, and he thought it would be great if Giuliani and Hillary ran on the same ticket. Then, he turns to me in all seriousness and says: "You should run for President!" He was, apparently, going to be my Chief of Staff. And as I was leaving he said again, very seriously, "You really should run for President." I guess I have my first East Coast endorsement.
After that, we headed to midtown and walked around Times Square and the theatre district, before stopping to eat at Junior's. Yes, we had cheesecake. Ryan also had matzo ball soup and an egg cream, just to make sure we covered all our touristy bases. From there, we walked all over the area, seeing as much as we could see on our way to, what else, but the NY WoD store. Because we had to. When we were done there, we were totally exhausted and went back to the hotel.
Sunday we met a friend of mine in the Village for brunch at Elephant and Castle. I wish we'd had more time to explore that area.
We didn't get to Central Park or Broadway or the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens or Jacques Torres or walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, but we did get more done that I expected. By the time we left, I liked NY much more than I had when I got there. The people are amazing. The New Yorkers were all extremely helpful and proud of their city. The rudest people we encountered were all tourists from other countries. (Including some astoundingly rude British tourists at the Statue - maybe they're still a bit resentful?) I don't know if I could live some place that dense, but the people would really make it more bearable, I think.
And I really wish we had a subway here. Subways are wonderful things. Even though some of the lines were closed or rerouted Sunday for construction, it was still easy to navigate.